


Déjà Vu

by jacintoo



Category: Smallville
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 15:59:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18097535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacintoo/pseuds/jacintoo
Summary: "Detective" Clark and Lex involved in an unsolved mystery of a missing boy.





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Clark." a manager holding a cup of coffee appeared in front of Clark, "We've got a new intern."

"Oh, " Clark put aside his work and stood up as soon as he saw the manager, "Where is he?"

"Come to my office, I'd like to introduce him to you. You'll be his adviser, will that be ok?"

"Sure."

 

Clark went into the office, where a man slightly younger than him was sitting in the corner of an oblong desk, he didn't notice Clark's attendance at first, but politely he nodded to Clark and stood up.

"Clark Kent." Clark was ready to shake hands with this man.

"Julian." 

Clark examined the boy. The boy there was slim and elegant. He looked like a well-educated college student except for the dark choker on his neck that brought him an aurora of a rebel. He was either trying to imply to everyone how different he was or he was a suicidal one once, Clark thought. Clark wasn't really sure about his last name, for the word "Julian" that came out from this man's mouth was too impressive to him that it reminded him the brother of Lex that died young and brought Lex a lot of trauma. Speaking of Lex, he hadn't talked to him for at least half a year, and the last talk was all businessman-to-journalist talks, more like interviews for magazines rather than private talks. He thought of all those insignificant things and didn't catch the pace of the manager's words. Very fortunately, they were all pleasantries.

 

"I'll leave him to you, Clark." The manager closed the door and left.

"Being a journalist isn't an easy job. If that's what you want to do in the future, you need to prepare." Clark sat at him, tapping the table to look more casual. Julian made him a bit uncomfortable, something was different in this man's face. It wasn't the first time he got to advise an intern. They were either lazy or not interested in their tasks. But Julian was serious, at least that was how he looked like when he squinted at Clark reticently.

"I know."

"Tell me what area you're interested in." he wasn't really expecting an answer.

"Crimes. Mysteries." Julian said tersely.

"So you like to catch the criminals, or help the police to get them. Great to hear. Me too I must say."

"Not just criminals, Mr. Kent."

"You can call me Clark."

"Clark. I love this name."

"Yeah that's right." Clark giggled.

"Not just criminals, Clark, but the families of victims, I'd like to hear their voices as well."

"Hmm, " Clark paused, "not a popular topic, very few people like to read the post-stories. But if you're determined, you can be a good journalist, as well as very few journalists, go to this direction."

"I am. That's what I signed up for."

"Sure. So let's start tomorrow, alright? I'll leave you to the HR and IT team, it'll take quite a while to set up your network, emails, and all the meet and greet, believe me."

Julian nodded and left the room with a faint smile.

"I'll send you an invitation on your schedule." Clark added.

 

-

 

On the next day, Clark arrived on time at Julian's desk.

"Are you ready to work?" Clark brought him some snacks.

"Not just ready. " Julian stood up, holding his notebook, "I've got a case to investigate."

"Already?" he was a bit surprised.

"Yeah, remember the crazy lady last year that is now in an asylum that kept claiming that she had a non-existing child murdered by someone she couldn't even tell?"

"Hmm, " Clark didn't know what to say at first, "No."

 

Sure, Clark had a great memory, but the lady that Julian was talked about failed to leave any mark on his brain, he wondered where he got this news and how he was interested in it. Maybe Julian was really a big fan of uncanny cases. If that's the case, Clark thought, he can be potentially a good journalist, who knows.

"Kevin, that's her child's name. He died in a car accident according to her. It happened in Metropolis. Well, that's mostly about it. And I'd like to interview her."

"If she's in the asylum, you'll get permission for that."

"Will you help me on this?"

"Absolutely. That's why I'm here."

"Then please tell me how to get permission for the interview." 

"How surprising, Julian, you seem to be in a hurry. That's really unlike to the other interns I've met. No offense, it's a great thing."

"To catch good news, a journalist has to hurry, right?"

"Well well, time does matter, but the content inside as well."

"The intern period is short."

"Yeah, I know, I'll help you on that."

 

When helping to assemble and applying the documents for Julian, Clark was also doing research on who the woman was. He tried several keywords, and indeed he found a video uploader under the woman's name. In her channel, there were all videos of her appalling "shreds of evidence" that her non-existing child ever existed on this planet. The replies weren't really friendly. She was sent to an asylum after all. As a journalist, Julian was supposed to hope for a big debut. Or maybe, he was just doing this for his own interests. Shall he ask him? No. Clark decided to just to be there and be a helper.

 

In the following several months. Julian was mostly absent in the office. He was in the asylum, interviewing the woman like a maniac himself. He used up all the notebooks that were assigned to him and refused to talk to Clark what exactly he got. Clark found it difficult to follow or advise him. He was afraid that Julian went in the wrong direction, and he wouldn't be able to veer it back on track. In the end, Clark couldn't really bother it except worrying that his manager would accost him one day and ask him to file a report regarding Julian's works. Then his bonus would surely be gone. So one day, when Julian appeared in the office, he approached him on his own initiative.

 

"Yes, Clark. I got a lot of recordings and to be honest, it piques me to type down everything she said. I've got over 50 pages already and the information I wrote down is pretty much scattered. Now I don't know how I could come up something condensed from all these." Julian said calmly, avoiding Clark's eye contact.

"That's a very common thing that every newbie would meet, to be honest, I had the same experience too. In fact, you shouldn't write down the whole interview, instead, you should brief the talks and see how to encapsulate them into a story. Do you have the recordings, maybe I can help after work?"

"It's really too big to send via email, Clark. How about coming to my home and let's check together tonight?" Julian kindly proposed, "I'd like to work at home as well as it's a pretty cozy place, trust me."

"Fine by me. Let's meet after work, alright?"

"Sure."

 

As promised, Julian came to Clark after work, telling him that his car was quite far from the parking place under this building and they had to walk till they reached another parking space. Along the road, they talked casually. When they arrived at the destination, Julian slowed down his pace, he turned to Clark and asked him, "You must know about LexCorp, the cooperation owned by Lex Luthor."

"Lex Luthor." Clark's heartstring tugged as Julian mentioned this name, "Surely I know him. And I know him well. Not really 'well', but…"

"Yeah, he's almost a celebrity. You can see his face on the covers of various papers, magazines, books. I know him well too."

"Not like that, " Clark wanted to emphasize their relationship, "I know him in private too."

"Really? That's good for your career I guess."

Clark shrugged, "Though I haven't talked to him for a while."

"Well, I have to come by LexCorp's headquarter, but not inside. My father is running a candy shop close to the headquarter, and you know, it's Valentine's Day. He's very occupied, as he said, and just would love to come by and see if anything I could help. Wouldn't take too long." Julian led the road to the underground, "My car is close."

"I wouldn't mind that. It's surprising that your father chose a place next to LexCorp for his candy shop. As far as I know, the rent for that area is very high, extremely high actually."

"Yeah, I know." Julian took out his card key, "It's not my father who chose the location, but Lex Luthor himself."

"Huh?"

"We had a very successful business back then in Grandville, and Lex was interested, he invited us to move to Metropolis and open a shop next to his headquarter, my father accepted the deal."

"I see. " Clark paused and resumed, "It'd be a good thing if Lex really invested your father's shop."

"It'd be. But I'm not going to be sad if he doesn't." Julian pressed his key card.

And somewhere the eyes of a car flashed, Clark searched around, and a Ferrari was right in front of Julian and blinking at him.

"Oh dear." Clark murmured, "Now I'm wondering what kind of candy shop your dad has."

"A very different one."

The two entered the car. When sitting next to Julian, Clark was close enough to notice traces of scars under his choker. Julian quickly noticed Clark's insights, he adjusted the choker, and told Clark he had no idea why he had those scars. One day when he woke up it was just there, like a devil's mark on him.

 

Hours later, they reached the headquarter of LexCorp. Clark knew this place well before, but so long he hadn't stepped upon these blocks of cement of the pavement. He felt somehow alien to be here.

 

It was really a different candy shop. Somehow magical, and girls were mostly seen in the shop than the kids. Of course, it was Valentine's Day and everyone was preparing something for their beloved ones. And judging by the crowds, the candy here must be very delicious. Clark swept the variegated shelves, and someone caught his eyes. Among the girls, there was a man without hair, it was Lex.

 

"Hey, Julian, you could have told me Lex was here too."

"I swear I didn't know that either."

 

Lex seemed to be awakened of Clark's voice. He switched his previous attention to the man by the front door.

"Clark? Wanna pick some present for your girlfriend or what?" Lex joked.

"Hi, Lex. No, not really." he touched his nose, "Julian said he would come by and check the shop."

Lex's attention stopped at the man next to Clark. "Wow, you know Julian." he exaggerated, "Very nice to meet you, and your father."

"I am grateful." Julian smiled, "let me introduce you our best selling product. Both of you."

"And the most famous one, I've already heard the news." Lex followed.

Together they crossed the queue, Lex went to a wall and picked up an empty candy jar that had a crown on the cover.

"This one. And here, Clark, you see the price." he said while ignoring the girls next to him.

"It's mostly for rent." Julian interjected.

"$10,000?!" Clark had to check the tag several times before he blurted the price out, "how?! What's so special about this jar?"

"Well, you could pick up a piece of paper." he snatched a white sticky note from thick stack notepads next to it. It made Clark laugh when the price of the notepads are "free", "And put the name of your lover or the one you unrequitedly love in heart on it. Put a time and place that's reachable for both of you, you write all of them down and burn it. Toss the burning paper into the jar and you'll see a happy ending. The fun part of this is that it will only work, if the one of that name loves you too."

"Now I see why it's so expensive." Lex smirked, "A surprise from the unrequited love is the sweetest thing he or she can get in Valentine's Day."

"Not just Valentine's Day, Lex. It actually works all the time. Except only on Valentine's Day, it's open for rent. $1000 for each. Want one? Clark, Lex?"

"I'm a bit interested but, " Clark chuckled, "still price is too high for me. I think I'll pass. And really, I don't need such a thing to know if someone loves me."

"I'll get one." Lex took out his pocket, "For you, Clark."

"I just said I didn't need one, Lex."

"Do it for me, alright?"

Lex gave $10,000 in cash to the shop assistant that Julian just called and handed over a well-packed jar to Clark.

"That's generous." Julian's lips curved a smile, "Now don't break it, Clark."

"Hmmm, I wonder whose name you'll put to it." Lex said frivolously.

"It just doesn't make any sense. If the man I loved is very busy that night."

"Alright Clark," Julian winked, "Now I see you'll put a man's name on it, and you'll see him at night. Let's see if he'll come to you then."

Lex however, didn't react at all. It was difficult to read from a pretentiously blank face of Lex to Clark. And he hoped Lex didn't think he would actually try that, and he hoped even more that Lex wouldn't think he would put any other's name in it.

"Damn!" something reminded Julian, "Oh my, Clark, I almost forgot, yeah, today's Valentine's Day! You shouldn't stay at my house tonight, that'll be awfully wrong! What am I thinking?"

"You planned to stay a full night with Julian?" Lex frowned.

"He is an intern in my department, and I'm his adviser, he's reporting an eerie case, and I'm supposed to help him for that, you know, to put the things in pieces and see if any puzzles can be solved."

"Not tonight, Clark. Where you planned to go? Let me drive you home. My Ferrari is going to show her highest speed for sure."

"A Ferrari huh?" Lex nodded and looked at Julian by his nose.

"Don't mind me, I'll manage that."

"But it's late, you could be late for, for anything." Julian seemed worried.

"If Clark said he'd manage, he will. Trust me." Lex's voice had no humor in it.

"Okay." Julian turned his body, "If you don't mind, I prefer to be lonely tonight. I'll come back to the office tomorrow, d'accord?"

Clark nodded, trying to interpret the meaning of Lex's still eyes on him. Lex was obviously waiting for something from his mouth that he couldn't accomplish.

"Well, " Lex shrugged after several seconds of awkwardness, "I've got a dining party tonight with a few bachelors of the company. Have a good night, Clark."


	2. Chapter 2

"That's incredible." Lex stretched a smile at his secretary and clapped his hands loudly. His secretary politely thanked him back, and said, "Lex, you seemed to very happy today. I bet you had an incredible night."

"You little angel knows how to read my mind."

"And thank you very much for that lovely jar, I couldn't believe it in my eyes. My boyfriend suddenly called me from Seattle and hopped on the last flight, and all these flowers, and everything! Just to see me! He said he never had such feeling about me before."

"That's also incredible, great to hear. I'm glad you're happy."

The girl laughed and left the room.

Yeah, fucking incredible, Lex thought. He couldn't believe it. He gave so many hints to Clark and nothing happened last night. He gave every penny that he earned in that $10,000 and Clark didn't seem to understand what a present like this in Valentine's Day meant, making him probably the loneliest guy in LexCorp and the only CEO in this city stupidly sitting in his sofa at midnight. At least the bachelor's party wasn't too bad without him. In a situation like this, he told himself to smile, smile to everyone and everyone would smile back and he would feel better a little bit. He tried to focus on his current works by looking at his schedules, but he found words passing by him without any meanings. And a happy hour of mind roaming in the air, his secretary rang his bell, Lex pressed the button, "yeah?"

"A gentleman called Clark Kent wanted to see you, Lex."

"What a gentleman, always see me on time. Let him in." Lex found it absurd that he actually got excited.

Clark got in. His eyes weren't evasive at all, instead, they were straight at Lex.

"How's your Valentine's Night, Lex?" Clark bitterly smiled at him.

"Oh great, I had a dream last night, about a sexy alien man wearing in black policeman like a professional and fucked me the whole night long." Lex crossed his legs.

"I… I'm really not that type of man." Clark flushed.

"I didn't say I dreamt about you."

Clark now was even more flushed, the bloodline of hot and red was heading straight to his ears.

"Let's talk about last night." he muttered.

Sure, sure I wanna talk about that too. Lex stood up, bringing a glass of cognac to him and to himself.

"You know, back then when we were in Smallville, I always wish I could bring a glass of cognac to you. But too bad you were too young for that."

Clark drank the liquid, "At least we do now. Look, Julian is graduating."

"Alright I thought you wanted to talk about last night."

"Last night we met him."

"Oh! You mean earlier. Before we departed! Yeah sure. So he's graduating and?"

"And he's an intern in Daily Planet."

"Yeah I heard that too. Interesting. I mean, he certainly could continue his father's business."

"Not sure if he's interested in that. But I'm helping him for arranging the data in his case. And since I know you, and you know me, and his case is somehow a bit related to you. Julian decided to go with this way, and I'm here, asking you for help."

"How's that related to me? Hmm, I'm not too surprised though. I do business almost in every corner of this world, so what is this about?" Lex had a sip.

"You probably never heard of a boy called Kevin in a small factory in Grandville."

"Hmmm, Julian lived in Grandville before."

"How do you know so many things about Julian?"

"Well, as you see, I know his father. As I said last night, I was evaluating his business. But no, I don't know Kevin, is he a worker there or something?"

"Julian did a full research report and sent to me. According to Kevin's mother, or at least how she seemed to be, Kevin was an intern in that factory when he was still alive."

Lex raised his nose, "Kevin is a dead man. I can guarantee you that he didn't die in my factory."

"She said he died in a car accident. But nobody else can prove Kevin even existed, though. Even her previous neighbors all claimed that she had no son at all."

"Previous? I guess she's sent to an asylum."

"Exactly Lex, you always predict what I'm about to say."

"I wish I can do that, really."

They both stopped for a grin.

"So the small factory she talked about was property by LexCorp. And I guess Julian wanted to prove that Kevin existed. But why? I mean, a man like him, could just spend hours on wasting his time on nothing until the period of internship is over."

"Maybe journalist is what his dream about life."

"I highly doubt that. No offense, Clark. Julian is rich, don't forget about that, after so many years in business, here I can tell you, nobody is innocent. He's probably not even called Julian if his target is me."

"You think he picked this case for a purpose of you."

"C'mon Clark, how many times I've been a target, I wouldn't be surprised if he's targeting me. I'm trying to patent his dad's skill under LexCorp's property. His father is alright for that and he's not. He probably tried to thwart my plan in this way."

"He was asking you for help. I don't see any threatening attempt in that."

Lex had his last drop of the wine and put the glass on a silver pane. "Anyway, I'm investigating his family too, just to check his background before I'm sure it's a lucrative opportunity for me. And did you notice his scars on his neck, despite the choker?" his fingers scrawled on his neck, "His life isn't easy for sure. I'll find out why. And sure, I'll share that information with you as well. Let's make a deal." he paused when Clark scowled, "There's only one small factory in Grandville owned by me, I'll give you a grant tonight. You can go there in any days and a visit card is going to deliver to you by the front. And in return, bring me all the information about this case, keep me updated on what Julian's doing."

"You want me to be your spy."

"No, Clark." Lex went close to Clark, so close that Clark had to look away, "You're my man."

"Look, I…about last night."

"Never mind, Clark. You have your reasons, and I have mines too. Forget about last night. We'll see again soon anyway."

 

-

 

About a week later. Clark went to Lex's penthouse, nodded to his door guard who opened the door for him and got in.

 

"Good to see you again, Clark." Lex was lying against a sofa, smiling at him, fingers crossed, "A busy week, I think, you've talked to someone in the factory for sure."

He stood up, gestured to his servants to serve his favorite guest.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, nobody really knows Kevin. You know what, when I read the reports from Julian brought back from the asylum. The story is so real that I can feel this man in my fingers. Julian agreed too, when he asked me, I said I got the feeling that this man truly existed, something happened to him, and everyone is like playing a big joke together with his mom. I mean, his mother seemed to know so many details that were hard to fabricate, unless she's logically a genius."

"Maybe she is." Lex led Clark to the parlor, "Since you talked to the staff members, anything you felt suspicious?"

"There's one. A manager. " Clark thanked the maid for bringing the wine and continued, "There are only three managers. Two had no idea what I was talking about and had no interests to continue the topic. And one paused a moment and said he got this déjà vu feeling when I described this boy to him, but somehow he couldn't think of anything related to him that occurred in this factory or himself. Nothing he could remember what was his name, how he looked like, nothing."

"A thing that happened to him, but he couldn't even remember it, that's jamais vu to me."

"According to Kevin's mother, her son worked there last year for quite a while. There were other two interns along with him. But I asked all the three managers, all the left workers, they all consented to the fact that only two interns were there. And as I thanked them and left, this manager turned to me and said, 'strange, somehow I felt that you were right, there was a third intern.' He looked at a chair that a boy was sitting on while he said that, the chair was brand-new. And then he touched it, hesitated for a moment, saying that, 'there were two interns, quite sure about it.'"

"Did you ask him why if the chair was there when there were only two interns?"

"I did. And he said he never even noticed this chair, and by the moment he looked at it, he said it was probably brought in yesterday. And he claimed that his memory was never bad."

Lex chuckled, "There's way to prove it." he went to the computer desk and sat on the swivel chair, "The registration of interns can be traced back for up to 10 years."

He typed the factory name and scrolled down to see the intern section, there he clicked "view more" and filtered the year. He did a quick scan.

"And no, only two interns, the men there were right. Did you ask anyone about Julian? As I said, there could be a reason why he wanted you to go to this factory instead of himself. I mean, I know his father, surely I can apply a visit card for him if he asked. If he was so eager to scoop out the story behind, he would definitely wish to go there and interview everyone face to face. He wouldn't have guessed that we're close, or did you say so to him?"

"Lex, it's been a while since we frequently met."

"I apologize for that. I thought you didn't want to see me."

"I thought the same."

"How many times I've said this to you, Clark? You're always welcome to come alone. Keep that in mind, please. Let's back to the question, shall we? Julian never thought we were close for sure. And even in a situation like this, he asked you to do him a favor of visiting the factory. I would say it's more than just Kevin, no? Someone, or something is what Julian really interested. I don't know. However, " Lex did a laconic drawl, "just look into the case, there are only two possibilities of this mother. She's either sane or insane. If Kevin really existed, and somehow embroiled in some strange case I don't know, disappeared, or died in a car accident later. And everyone's memories about him all wiped out after his death."

"Except for her mom?"

"It's harder for a mother to forget about her beloved son. And by reading your reports, I mean, Julian's reports, Kevin was far from a good boy. In his last days, his life was totally out of tracks because of the heavy debts he had. His mother tried to convince the bank to borrow her a large amount of money but she failed. And he died as well. I mean, will a mother imagine her child in this way? It's too real to me. Why not just imagine a perfect child that every mother wants? And if she's really insane, that Kevin never existed, Julian wouldn't be so devoted to it like he wanted to prove something. What do you say, Clark?"

"Sounds pretty grotesque to me, I don't like this kind of discussion to be honest. "

"It's just my speculation." he paused for a second, "Why not just go there again, Clark, would you? I'll drive there for you this time. When you go there, show them a picture of Julian. Ask them if they have seen him before. Alright?"

It made Clark sweat when Lex said he would drive him there. It had been so long time that Lex gave him a drive. Every time he saw Lex had a beautiful woman sitting on that "I'm the girlfriend" position he had a frustratingly uncomfortable feeling in the stomach.

"Lex, after this case is done, I wish… I like when we sit together and talk about things. We haven't been together for a long time. I think we should… date? " Clark abruptly asked, "No, that's a bad word."

Lex gave Clark a sweet smile, and softly whispered to his ear, "No, we haven't dated before."

Yes we did, back then we were in Smallville. You just couldn't remember it anymore, and I won't bring you pain for that.

"Have you ever thought of -" Clark wanted to propose something, but words got stuck in his tongue that he couldn't continue. Lex laughed and patted his back.

"I do, Clark, for whatever you gonna say." he looked at Clark like he got through him already, "Thank you for your reports. And don't tell Julian about this rendezvous. I'd like to keep his impression of you and me. And last but not least, I've got a full background check of Julian. Wanna hear?"

"Sure, I always say Julian is not a common intern. And exchanging information is a good thing."

"I checked his family tree first." Lex took out a deck of papers from a drawer, "Listed every man or woman in his family that had a record left in this world. Guess what, they were all jar makers, his father, his grandmother, grand-grandfather. And Valentine's Day's jar isn't the only genre they could make. Some were mentioned in occult events, others helped rich men's children be more intelligent, not me, I never knew it until I saw it. Magicians, I would say, Clark. So it's highly possible that Julian is able to make magical jars as well. Did Julian ever tell you what kind of Jar he was able to make?"

"No."

"It's ok. His father told me his son had no talent in making jars at all. Hmmm, I thought it was a gift intergenerational." Lex smirked, "It is hard to convince me as he's the only successor of the family."

"Jar makers, huh, still, I couldn't believe how this jar could be magical."

Lex suddenly started to giggle, and Clark couldn't understand why either.

"You should try next time, Clark. And you'll know. Don't waste my money like this, it's painful."

"After this case is closed maybe I would."

"Then we have to hurry, shall we?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Clark, " Lex drove in the high way to his factory in Grandville with Clark next to him, "have you ever got the feeling that we've been through a lot before?"

"What do you mean?" it made Clark despondent because of course, they have, that part of memories of Lex got wiped out and he was unable to speak of it either. He was afraid, afraid that once this Pandora box was open, nothing good would come out before it closed again.

"Back when we were in Smallville. I had a feeling that you were not just a name on my contact list. We're probably closer than that. You probably want to laugh now but -"

"No, Lex. It's very normal to have a déjà vu feeling. Everyone does." Clark said lightly.

"I know you think I'm just flirting with you. That I said these to every woman or man I met, but no, I'm serious. I probably had a trauma, a very serious one inside my brain and because of it most of my memories of you are permanently lost. It might sound strange but more I see you and hear your voice, I just feel that it's true."

"Lex, " Clark sighed, "we can talk about our days in Smallville for sure. But not today, one day when we are both ready."

Lex paused a moment, probably thinking why Clark said he wasn't ready, or probably was surprised of Clark's assent answer.

"I checked the annual report of the asylum Julian was frequently visiting. And I wasn't really surprised, to be honest." Lex changed the topic.

"What did you find?"

"Julian became the biggest investor since last year. Some connection between him and Kevin, I knew it."

"Maybe he sympathizes the woman. I mean, when he dictated the interview to me, I got the impression that he believed in her. I know you would say Julian looked cold blood to you but to me he's just a hard-working intern."

Lex grinned, but he didn't say anything for a moment.

"We'll find out today, when you show the picture of Julian to the manager of the factory."

"You got an answer in your mind already, right? Lex?"

"I do. But a vague one. I need more evidence to prove my deduction."

He kept driving on the high way with full speed until they both reached.

 

"Aren't you going with me?"

"A CEO going to this factory? I don't need a ceremony today. People will get fired if I go in like this. Go, Clark. I'll wait for you here." Lex opened a case below him, inside Clark saw a gun, a pair of gloves, papers, and a small black box. Lex took the box out and opened it. Clark wasn't really sure what was inside until Lex took it out, it was a pair of widgets small as earrings, he pressed one on Clark's collar and one on his own. "Helden, Julian Helden, tell him that name."

"What was that?" Clark pointed to the little nail.

"A mic. With that I can hear you even when you are away." he grinned.

 

Clark got in alone, got his visitor card from the front as promised and went straight to the manager he appointed before. They shook hands, and both sat down in a meeting room. The manager wasn't really on the focus, he was wondering why Clark showed up again, but still he was very willing to help.

"Have you ever seen this boy?" Clark put the picture on the desk like a professional detective.

The man tilted his head, "Oh yeah, he once was a visitor several times last year. Hmmm," he pouts, eyes minced, "and now he no longer visits here, I like him though."

"Do you still remember his name?"

"Not really. He barely talked to me, he was here for someone else."

Clark's fingers pressed against the wooden table, "do you remember who that was?"

The man uttered some words like his tongue got stuck by something terribly bitter, then he scowled, holding his head like it was sawdust in his brain stopping him to think of an answer, "Strange, I couldn't really remember. How?!" he jabbed the photo of Julian, "I never had a doubt that he was here just last year! I must be old now. You know when you got old, you just keep forgetting things."

"Julian Helden, " Clark pointed to Julian's face, "that's this boy's name."

"The Helden family, sounds familiar. Ah!" the man stood up, "I saw it on TV once, the famous jar makers!"

No, that's not helpful, Clark thought. He squinted at the man's face who was facing the ceiling, expecting him to say something. As Lex said, there must be a reason that Julian couldn't be here.

"He was a frequent visitor here, for someone I couldn't really remember. You should show the picture to my secretary and my workers, I mean, there aren't too many people here!" he joked.

Clark did as he was told. But all men and women shook his head.

"Clark, " Lex's voice echoed suddenly, Clark had no idea how he was able to hear that and everyone else couldn't, it took him a second to realize that the voice was actually extremely low, too low that it got smothered by the background noise of the factory. "Ask him if it was the man on that brand-new chair. Point your finger to the chair, dear."

Clark without hesitation did point to the empty chair there.

"Was the boy he met sitting over there?" Clark asked.

The manager turned around and looked at where Clark pointed at, his voice was a bit huffy, "I've told you, Clark Kent, there was no one - " he got stuck again, just like before, but this time his eyes were brightly opened, like he realized something, "but there was no one there? This is a new seat." He frowned like the question was for himself.

"There was someone, wasn't there?" Clark amended.

"No. " his voice was firm, "Is it a joke or something?"

"I think I got it." Lex's voice echoed again, "You may leave now."

Clark nodded at the manager, "I'm very sorry if you think so. It wasn't, I was helping my intern, the boy I showed you, Julian to write a report of a missing boy, Kevin."

"Kevin?"

"I asked you before, but you said there's no Kevin here."

"Yes! And you have looked up our list of past interns." the manager nodded, "There's no Kevin here, and surely not sitting over there." his finger curved like he wasn't really sure anymore. Then he looked back at Clark, eyes fixed, "No doubt about it."

"Thank you."

 

"I think he was hiding something." as soon as Clark hopped in the car, he started to talk.

"No, I think he was telling the truth. I mean, there's no way that everyone in this factory is lying. It's not a place for this kind of party."

"It can be. Maybe they killed the boy. I mean, just maybe."

"Then he would answer you in a much more evasive way. Plus, all the data of LexCorp is copied in the cloud, there's no way they can tamper with that. Unless…"

"Unless? Someone manipulated the data in your cloud?"

"No way." Lex smeared his jaw as he was thinking hard, "I might need to check the log again. Hmmm, maybe not. Clark?"

"I'm lost on what you're at, Lex." he looked at Lex, waiting for a proper reason for calling his name like a cat.

"At least we knew Julian did visit here last year. And his report wasn't a made-up story to use against me. "

"Good to know. There's one thing I forgot to tell you, I don't know if it's important."

"Please do now."

"Julian said he was afraid to go there alone. He asked me to go with him first, and then he changed his mind said I should go there alone."

Lex stared at Clark's eyes that was so bright under the night sky. He then smiled mysteriously without saying a word.

"You got the answer? I know you're clever but, hey, just give me some hint."

"Not really. But I'd like to take a wild guess." he couldn't suppress his ecstasy, "How about we do some role-playing? What do you say, Clark?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Clark, " Lex sat in his Ferrari, hands on the wheel, looking back at Clark who's sitting in the back seat, "are you ready to be a bad boy? I'm going to call Julian now."

Clark scowled, "I was a never a bad guy for you? Never even once?"

"I'm the villain. And you're the hero." Lex put aside the phone and paused, "At least in public. But in private, I'd like to switch the roles sometimes."

"Maybe it sounds like a joke to you, I truly wish we are not polarized."

Lex looked at the sky, tilted his head and looked away from the window without a word for a second.

"Never mind, " Clark nodded and eyed Lex through the mirror, "Do the call."

As the last ray of sun fell, Lex picked up his phone and dialed the number of Julian, "Julian. Stayed late, don't you?"

"You said 8pm, I just finished my meal. I'll back up my files and go downstairs."

"Sure." Lex put down the phone, "What a hard-working intern. I hope your boss paid him well."

"I'm not sure actually he cares about money."

"True."

Lex tuned down the lights of the car, darkness loomed the interior. Clark held a coil of silk thread in hands and lowered himself so that no one can see him through the exterior.

Minutes later, Julian called Lex once again, confirming that he was already in the elevator. Lex's eyes squinted in the right direction, waiting for Julian's gait.

"He's coming." Clark said when Lex hadn't spotted anything.

"He surely does."

"You want him to come inside first or?" he whispered.

"Good question, what do you think? Make a plan for me please."

"I say when you arrive at the destination."

"Sure. Push him to nowhere."

"Press the horn if you want me to stop."

"I won't. It takes 15 minutes to strangle a man to death. And I'm not ordinary, my friend, you know it."

Clark kept his mouth shut and held his breath as Julian came much closer, he could even feel Julian the air in which his hands were waving. He opened the car door and entered. Clark kept his body low and quiescent, fortunately, Julian didn't even look back once.

 

"Why didn't Clark come down with you?" Lex asked.

"He said he had a date with Louis and had to leave first."

"A-ha! Louis!" Lex said exaggeratedly, "I don't like her. Do you?"

"She's kind, like a big sister. We only talked several times during lunch time. She's quite attractive."

"She's attractive. True. That's why I don't like her."

"There are people who like dilapidated buildings, broken toys, sunken ships. Never heard of any men who don't like attractive women. Or is it because -"

"Shut up." Lex interjected.

"Unfortunately, you're going to see two attractive ones in my house. The cutest dancers in the world."

"I don't know you have such a taste in women."

Julian looked at his shoes and smiled, "Two things I'd like to thank you, Lex Luthor. First, thank you for omitting your negotiation with my dad, patenting his skills never is my will. And I'm glad you still agree to bind our partnership, by the way."

"It's just because of the price, really. Too bad I couldn't patent it. That's why I'm here for your coat of arms, I'm surprised when I hear you still do business in such a traditional way, I respect that though."

"Second, for driving to my house with Your Ferrari. Fancy car, huh?"

Lex scoffed. "Mine is more advanced."

"Turn right."

"Sure."

"How long you've been in Metropolis, Julian?"

"Ever since I'm a university student."

"Your dad and all your ascendants discovered their powers since puberty. This strange phenomenon never occurred to you?"

"It really depends individually. But never was one discovered his power until adulthood, except me of course. I guess everything has an end. I made a jar before, and at first I was believing that it had some power inside as well."

"And it was just an ordinary one?"

"Every jar had some kind of similar ritual, you write something in a piece of paper and burn the paper inside the jar. During that procedure, you got a strong feeling like a voice was calling you, telling you what kind of power it got, they said it was like a demon was whispering. But when I did it, I feel nothing at all."

"Have you tried several times?"

"I do, the results are the same. So I stopped trying."

"Is the jar still in your house? I hope you didn't smash it."

Julian chuckled bitterly, "Yeah. And even if I do, I can just make another one if you like. Ah, there you go." he peaked at the road.

"Alright, where's your parking lot?"

Julian pointed to a direction, and Lex followed. They were surrounded by trees and bricks. Since it was already late, that the street lights afar couldn't light up the roads very well, so that Lex had to turn on the high beams to clear the roads ahead. Soon they reached the parking lot. Just when Lex stopped the car, and when Julian was about to get off, the man behind him darted from the dark and twirled the silk threads around Lex's head in a blink of an eye, jerking him behind from the seat. Julian was shocked by the horrible scene, he looked back and forth, couldn't really tell who that was for it was too dark to see. Lex tried to kick the door but he couldn't open it, and next several attempts of opening the drawer beside him failed too. His face went wry, and he did another attempt, still not successful but this time Julian's spirit was back to his body and he scratched the drawer that was much closer to him and got a gun from it. He shot the vicious man behind, but the man didn't really stop, so he shot again and again until the man had loosened his strength. He panted and twisted his arm to be able to catch the man, but the man broke the glass of the door and jumped out.

 

Lex unlocked the doors and slid on the floor, he couldn't really stand up for the moment. Julian was still in the car, face blue and petrified.

"We must catch the man." Julian said, eyes widened.

"He got away, unfortunately."

"Do you get that often?" he got off the car and stooped down next to Lex, checking his sounds around the neck, "I think you need to get to the hospital."

"No, Julian. By the time I get to the hospital, the wounds will be already gone."

"It's no time for a joke."

"I'm not, Julian. And now, why don't you take off your neck choker?"

"Ah…" Julian uttered, unconsciously, he touched his neck choker by fingers.

"You were petrified because you feel that you've experienced the same thing, am I right?"

"Déjà vu… How do you know that?" Julian held Lex's arm up.

"I would say it's more jamais vu. You've experienced the same thing, but your mind played the trick with you like you never did until you think twice." he took a deep breath, his voice was already much clearer than it was several minutes ago.

"I don't get it." Still, he hadn't recovered from the shock yet.

"C'mon, let's get to your room, get the paper works done and I'll explain. Lead the way." Lex smiled.

"You surely heal fast." Julian tilted his head full of question marks, "And we have arrived."

 

"This way, Lex." Julian led the way.

They both passed a pebbled road and took an elevator to get straight to the office of the house. When they arrived, two identical exotic Asian girls leant from each side of the elevator door and smiled at them.

"Yomi." One girl said to Lex.

"And Yami." The other girl said.

They again smiled at Lex in the same moment, like one was the doppelgänger of the other, the only way to tell the difference was from the side of flower on their heads, one was on the left side and the other on the right.

"They are the dancers of yours that you bragged about?"

"Hell yeah." Julian made a grimace, "Welcome to my home."

 

Quickly he reached to the corner of the room and opened a safe, where he took out a badge with their family's coat of arm. He placed it on Lex's right hand, and stood straight until he stated the official words that Lex couldn't really care about and then he returned the badge to where it belonged.

"That's it?" Lex was surprised.

"It's more or less a superficial formal thing now. Alright, things are done!" he shrugged, "And I'm hungry. You haven't eaten anything yet, right, Lex?"

"In fact, I have, with..." he did a sudden pause.

"Ah! Poor Louis. You know what, I must say, Clark is a terrible liar."

Lex laughed, "If you look at him in the eyes when he lied, he tended to look away. Such an easy way to tell. Yeah I did dine with Clark tonight. We're actually closer than you think."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you two have a much deeper connection that I have thought. There was a time when I spilled a drop of coffee on his glasses, and wow, he took off the glasses just for a second, my heart skipped a beat."

"Not that close, Julian. I'd like to declare something, but then again, I'm not really sure about our relationship myself. Even though he's a bad liar, sometimes it's still disturbing to bear the words or the silence from him. Fuck it, I don't know why I have to confess this to you." Lex touched the still swelling neck.

"Everyone's got a little worry about something. I got my own reason for investigating the case of Kevin as well." he lowered his head.

"That's why I cancelled the project of patenting your father's gift. Because I found yours more fascinating to me."

Julian laughed, "Have I told you that I got no gift at all?"

"Yes you do. You must admit it, that's the reason of your own behind that missing child. You still have a little hope that it was because of your power."

"Well well well, everyone said Lex Luthor is a clever man. I got pieces uncollected, wanted to get help from Clark, but the more you got involved into it, the more I feel that it's not a good idea. I probably should stop. So that man that strangled you just now, he's hired?"

"He's a good friend of mine."

"Got a lot of friends, huh, Lex. I'm gonna go check whether my chef has left something for me, and I'll be back in half an hour, alright, Lex? In the meanwhile..." he winked at the two girls, "Enjoy the show then."

He left with the door locked. The music started and Yomi brought a bottle of beer and Yami followed with several glasses.

"Saison, Julian doesn't really like wine, shame." Yomi leaned forward and poured a glass for Lex.

About a half hour's most exotic idol show Lex had ever seen and lyrics that he couldn't understand at all, Julian came back. The two girls immediately stopped dancing and sat in the corner of the room.

 

"Are they robots or not? I just checked the time. Exactly half an hour."

"They've got flesh and blood. But indeed they listen to whatever I say exactly." he poured one glass for himself, "Amazing, you really are already recovered." Julian checked the invisible wounds that were visible before.

"Told you."

"Lex Luthor's secret. " he grinned, "Since when you've interested in my case?"

"Ever since I learned the power of yours. Where is the jar that you made?"

"Don't worry it's in this house. And I've tried. But still, I felt nothing when I held my pen. I had fears that I truly had no talent at all. Fears that brought me into this case. And more fears that I gained when I more and more collected the pieces. I've got my reason because I was quite sure I got a friend. "

"Kevin?" Lex crossed his legs, "Yes you did."

"I do think so even if the mother of him is really a psycho. Her original tape was a total mess. I spent too long to analyze it and to get a conclusion from it. And hell, the more I learned from her, the more I'm convinced that Kevin is killed by someone probably me. And if that's true, it means I killed my friend, the only one I have and I don't even remember it."

"As I said, I'm here for the jar you made. And it's a pretty easy case for me. " he winced at Yami who winked at him and he winked back at her, "I understand that when Clark told me you dared not to visit my factory in Grandville. Yeah, you were afraid to know the real relationship between you and Kevin. Like a man wants to see the sea, standing on the edge of the cliff and afraid to dive in. If the manager told you the story between you and Kevin, everything would be clear. Unfortunately, you underestimated your power, everything related to Kevin was gone, everything. Including the memories of the managers and anyone who knew him except his mom. Kevin was a child raised by his single mother. There are only two possibilities why she still remembers him. And the reason for that was probably because they run by the same blood in their veins. Or, just like the power you father had, she's the only one Kevin loved, and he was the one she loved. I preferred the latter one as I've gone through your family tree and never found anything related to the ties of blood. Now here's my speculation, may I?" he glanced at Julian and continued, "Kevin in fact, isn't your friend at all, or at least, that's what he thought about you, you're just his ATM machine. He got a lot of problems, mostly financial problems. As his mother said he was bankrupting and asking her for more money. Problems he had could only be solved by you,  you're a rich man after all. You constantly visited there, the factory he had his internship because you like him, and would love to treat him as a friend. I would say that, otherwise, there's no way you would still keep in touch with him. Even the managers remember the days where you went there for visiting someone I'm sure is Kevin. You like him, but he only loved your money. These are all lost for sure as nobody really remembers what Kevin is capable of and he hid a lot of his life from his mother. And finally, your scars on your neck, " a bit of sentiment flickered in the eyes of Lex when Julian took off his neck choker and left his ugly scars exposed, "was because he tried to assassin you. He died in a car crash according to her mother. You probably tried to shoot him and stopped when you learned who he was. He ran from the car and hit by another, and died, probably. For whatever reason that is, you went home, closed the door and put his name on the paper, and burnt it, put it into the jar for the first time. At that time you knew how it worked as you said, the demon whispered in your ears. But the power of the jar you made was all about oblivion somehow. Still, there's a tinkling hope told you that you once had a friend as you are all alone, just like I was until I found Clark."

A drop of tears shed on Julian's face though he showed no signs of frail sentiment or happiness on his face.

"Aren't you sad, Julian? That you don't feel each other, or that you're happy that you're talented after all."

 

"No, I'm just amazed by your telepathy ability. You read my mind."

"All thanks to this." Lex pointed to his head.

"I'm a fan of mysteries. It was an accidental opportunity that I read the story from the internet of Kevin's mother. Somehow it left a big impact on me, not only I felt like I knew her son but also the fact that her unfortunate fate somehow writ my curiosity. Till my father told me we were about to open a new shop in Metropolis that I decided to find an opportunity to get closer to her. The investigation was painful, you don't know how exactly it feels to pick up the lost pieces of your memories."

"Oh, believe me, I do."

"Huh?"

"It'll be a long story. We can talk about it some other time, when you've recovered from this misery. I'm glad you accept my speculation. Now in return, you must give me the jar."

 

"I really appreciate your trust of my talent." he bottomed up the glass and stood up to accept the napkin from Yami and wiped his tears, "I'm willing to give you the jar I made for free. But as much as you emphasized, I don't get why I couldn't feel anything when I try my ability. Really, I tried so many times and nothing happened at all. I did think that I really killed Kevin, or at least it was me who caused his disappearance. I had a similar conclusion even if I was afraid to think in this way but I just couldn't prove it. And as I don't remember anything I did to Kevin, I don't know what I've missed. This way."

Lex followed as the three led the road, they stopped in a bedroom possibly belonging to Julian, and Julian opened a box from the bookshelf and gave it to him.

"You said you tried multiple times. You've killed some people for this experiment? Or anyone already in graves?" Lex checked the jar that had no different than the jar he bought for Valentine's Day for Clark and his secretary.

"He really couldn't kill anyone." Yomi crossed her arms.

"Oh, he did, he killed Johnny, he killed Tom as well, oh and Jerry." Yami nodded to her twin, seeing Lex waiting for a proper answer, she continued, "they are the cockroaches, mosquitos, and mice that he killed. He named them Johnny, Tom, and Jerry. And he wrote those names on pieces of paper, burnt them in the jar."

"Jesus, are you fucking kidding me, Julian?" Lex exclaimed.

"Hey, insects' lives are lives too!" Julian insisted.

"Never mind."

"Lex? You're not going to kill someone aren't you?"

"That's really none of your concern."

"If you do think that one deserves to die. Leave it to the law. Plus, don't overestimate my power, maybe there's truly none left."

"I didn't say I would kill anyone. Relax, Julian. And even if I do want to kill someone, I probably will find another way to do it. I see this as a gift you gave to me. I'll keep it in my collection of all the grotesque matters I have for now."

"I thank you, Lex. I feel better now. "

"So it's really about the case not about your skill." Lex smirked.

"Hard to say. Part of me is alleviated. I agree we should talk more if you have time, if you see me as a friend, or at least a  business partner."

"Oh indeed I see you as a friend. Both of us need friends right? And I thank you, Yomi and Yami for your great dancing."

"Feel free to come back and see us again." the two girls blinked at him.

Lex blinked back.

 

-

 

Days later, when Lex was enjoying the moonlight from his penthouse alone, he was wondering where was Clark again. As he promised him several days ago that he would come tonight. He must be either late, or he must be again too shy to ring the bell. Just at this lonesome moment, his secretary called in.

"Yeah?" Lex answered.

"A gentleman has come, said he got an invitation."

"A gentleman named who?" Lex rose his head.

"In fact, he looks like a policeman to me."

Lex laughed, "he surely is. Let him in."

 

Minutes later, his door was knocked by that "gentleman". He opened the door and saw Clark standing there, wearing a black policeman costume.

"I…eh, I don't know if that's what you see me in your dream." Clark stretched his collar and muttered.

"Told you it wasn't you." Lex said softly, he was holding Clark's neck and he kissed him after they both got in.

"Alright, you fancied someone else." Clark pushed Lex away, "I think I should go then."

"Wait, where do you think you're going?" Lex blocked the door, "Alright, sir, I confess, it was really you."

"I got a bonus from Julian's case."

"What you gonna spend it for?"

"You're kidding, right, Lex? I mean this." He pointed at his costume.

"I have to say, Clark." Lex couldn't help but laugh, "You never ceased to amaze me."

 

-

 

Months passed, Julian had finished his intern and started to spread his father's business further, he asked Lex for help, Lex agreed. And before he started a plan for this new business, Lex went to his room of collection with a piece of paper in one hand and a lighter in the other, he burnt it and seeing the paper with Lionel's name morphed into ashes.


End file.
